Bedstead-fastening



L UNITED STATES? PATENT; OFFICE, f f

lll.y W. MOYE, OF UTICA, NEW YORK.

BEDSTEAD-FASTENING..

Specification of Letters Patent N o. 5,117", dated May 15, 1847.

To all whom, t may concern l Be it known that I, J. W. MOYER, of Utica,in the county of Oneida and State of ,New York, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Methods of Fastening the Rails to the Posts ofBedsteds, and that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription. of the principle or character which distinguishes it fromall other things before known and of the manner of making, constructing,and using the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents themortise in a part of the post; Fig. 2 the tenon on the end of the rail;Fig. 3, a reversed view of one of the metal spurs let into the tenon;and Fig. 4, a vertical section of the post and rail taken through one ofthe fastening spurs.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

The rails and posts of bedsteads have been secured by means ofwedge-formed metal spurs attached to the tenons and fitting intocorresponding recesses in the mortise of the posts; but this method,patented in various forms and arrangements, has been objected to andnearly thrown out of use for the reasons that the fastening of the spursand sockets to the tenons and in the mortises i's attended withdifliculty and liable to derangement; and because the least motion ofthe posts forces up the wedge-formed spurs, and thus unfastens theconnection. The latter of these objections does not apply to that classof bedsteads in which the rails turn and are connected with the posts bymeans of round tenons, for the tension of the sacking cords prevents therails from turning back by pressure on the wedge formed spurs; and theformer objection has been avoided in the turning rail bedsteads by animprovement lately patented in which wedge formed spurs are attached tothe tenon which when let into the mortise cut or force their way intothe wood of the post surrounding the mortise. But it will be obviousthat this plan is not applicable to thesquare tenon bedstead forthepressure of the woodofthe post thus forced open by the spur actingonits entire surface, when made wedge formed would tend constantly toforceup the spurs and thus unfasten the rails more readily than if fastenedinto metal sockets.

The object of my present improvement is to avoid both objections for thesquare tenon bedsteads which are preferred to the other class by a largeportion of the public, by

against the posts, and` then from the we ge part to the top parallelwith the shoulder so that the bight of the wood acting on' the twoparallel faces of the spurs shall prevent the pressure ont-he inclinedface from forcing them out.

In the accompanying drawings (a)y represents the square tenon on the endof the rail (b) and properly adapted toia mortise (c) in the post (cl),the height or length of the mortise being greater than the tenonto'allow the latter to move up and down in lthe .former. On each side ofthe tenon there is a metal spur (e) (one only being represented in thedrawings) that projects from, and is cast with a plate (f) that is letin flush with the surface of the tenon, and there secured by a screw (g)and to prevent weakening the tenon by cutting away too much of thewoodthe inner face of the plate is provided with three round spurs (f) thatfit in corresponding holes inthe tenon. That face of the spur (e) whichis toward the end of the tenon is parallel with the shoulder of thetenon, the lower edge is sharp, and the back face, or that toward theshoulder ofthe v i tenon, is wedge formed from the sharp lower edgeabout lone third of the way up, and thence to the upper edge parallelwith the other face.

The sides of the mortise are grooved out, as at (it, it), so that thetenoneof the rail can be inserted, with the two spurs, up to theshoulder, and then by forcing down therail, v

with a hammer or mallet, the lower sharp edge of the spurs are forcedinto the wood at the lower edge of the grooves (71., it); the grain ofthe wood being forced open by the wedge form of they spurs, whichtendstodraw the shoulder of the rail close up to theV v post; and after thespurs have penetrated the wood so far as to carry the wedge part.,

below the lower edge of the grooves (h, il.) the elasticity of the woodforcedopen by th wedge, causes it to bight on the parallelsurfaces ofthespurs'and prevent it frombeing forced out by the 'bight on the wedgepart. By this arrangementthe only fastening re-` quired for themetalspurs is a simple screw to keep them in place when the tenon is outbinedwith the groovesin the sides of the of the mortise, for when in themortise ythe mortise and the sockets yformed by, and for surfaces are inContact and the plates of the the reception of the spurs, as described,15 spurs cannotbe drawn out of their recesses. whereby the rails andposts of square tenon 5 What I claim as my invention, and desirebedsteads can be fastened at less expense and to secure by LettersPatent in the method held together more firmly than by any otherofastkningilbekdstlags abofvehdescribed, plan known to me. l

a'ngteac aceotespurswic secure the tenons in their mortises, partly J'W' MOYER' 10 diagonal and 'partly parallel With the front Witnesses:

' face thereof and the shoulder of the tenons, A. P. BROWNE,

substantially as described, when this is com- CHAS. M. KELLER.

